“[If] a man doesn't have a job or an income, he has neither life nor liberty nor the possibility for the pursuit of happiness. He merely exists.”

American civil rights activist and Baptist minister

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, active in the United States from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He became a central figure in the civil rights movement and is known for his leadership in the struggle against segregation and discrimination. King advanced civil rights through nonviolent action and, at times, civil disobedience. His public voice was shaped by opposition to Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination that most often targeted African Americans.